Join us for unifying visions of community, as we promote intercooperation among organizations. Together we will share ideas and what we are up to, swap some seeds, and have a presentation on seed saving. Bring a dish to pass for our Eco-challenge potluck as we look at ways that we can be a little more ecologically responsible in simple ways.

The Ann Arbor-Ypsi ReSkilling Festival and monthly events aim to help people learn skills for resilient, low-energy living. The concept of reskilling is about preparing for our low-energy future by acquiring new skills related to what we eat, wear, use and live in. Reskilling means providing for ourselves and our communities by growing, preserving, creating, building, and teaching.A2reskilling.com

Hour Exchange Ypsilanti

The Hour Exchange empowers individuals, organizations and businesses to help each other meet their needs cash free in one-to-one exchanges and group projects You can help your neighbors while earning time credits that you can then use to receive the services you’d like in turn, from any member of the bank.. Join hOur Exchange Ypsilanti

Conscious Cafe Ann Arbor

A very friendly place to co-create and organize solutions to society’s unsustainable institutions. Forming integrated groups that offer regenerative ‘choices’ as old models become too painful and obsolete. Happens Wednesdays at Sunward Cohousing in Ann Arbor. Find Conscious Cafe on Facebook.

Deanne Bednar will be showing slides of the buildings & projects at the Strawbale Studio ~ located one hour north of Detroit on wooded rural land: the new timber-framed thatched roof Retreat Cabin, the Strawbale Studio, Earth Oven, Wood Shelter with round poles and a living roof, Cob Rumford Fireplace & more. Also covered will be the principles of designing & building a Rocket Stove heated bench, and Rocket Outdoor Cooker.

Deanne Bednar – Strawbale Studio

Deanne has been doing natural building since taking a course from Cob CottageCompany in 1996, and for the last 10 years has been teaching natural building & sustainable living skills at the Strawbale Studio outside Oxford, MI. She is the Illustrator of the Hand-Sculpted House, The Natural Plaster Book and the Cobbers’ Companion. Deanne has a Masters in Social Ecology from Goddard College with a focus on earthen plasters & sculptures and roof thatching with reed grass.

Join us for a modern twist on the ancient technique of improving soil with charred wood, or Bio-Char. Learn the “new” technique organic gardeners and Permaculturists the world over are finally catching on to. We will review the history, science, and modern methodology. Each participant will receive a course guide with an overview of the presentation and detailed explanations on how to build their own device. By the end of this workshop you will understand how Bio-Char is made and how it can improve the health of your soil for decades to come.

Lucas DiGia – Project Grow Community Gardens

Lucas DiGia is a local food’s activist that sees community gardening as a gateway to the larger principles of Permaculture, land stewardship, and healthy living. As president of the board of Project Grow Community Gardens, he works hard to promote sustainable gardening practices in our community and create partnerships with other organizations that support the mission of Project Grow: To provide the space, education, and inspiration to make organic gardening accessible to all. Lucas is also a musical performer, using his talents to promote community gardening and healthy living in schools through Rap For Food http://www.rapforfood.org

This session will cover basic ways to gather water and make it safe to drink. Unfortunately, most water that we come across, in the wilds and even from our sinks, is not completely safe to drink. We will cover various methods of gathering water as well as the many ways to purify it. Participants will learn many methods to insure for safe and sufficient hydration, one of the most basic of life skills.

Frank Levey – Blue Turtle Nature Camp

Frank Levey has been a student/teacher of nature awareness and wilderness living skills since he was a child. He has a wellness practice as a breathwork facilitator and he and his wife, Larissa run Blue Turtle Nature Camp in Ann Arbor. Frank will also be presenting on Winter Fire Skills.

Isha Kriya is a simple but powerful guided meditation based on the teachings of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. The Isha Kriya meditation is a powerful tool to cope with the hectic pace of modern life. Daily practice of Isha Kriya brings health, dynamism, peace and wellbeing. In this session, you are invited to learn more about the health benefits of meditation and you will also have the opportunity to learn a simple but powerful 15-meditation practice that is easy to fit into daily life. No previous experience is necessary and can even be done seated in a chair. For ages 12 and above.

Participants will also be offered a handout which summarizes meditation technique, and an online version of the meditation is available at http://www.ishausa.org/ishakriya

Jothi Moorthy – Isha Foundation

Jothi Moorthy, a volunteer for the Isha Foundation, has been practicing Isha Meditation for over four years and has experienced significant changes in her health and well-being. Everyone in her family, including her husband and two children, practice Isha Kriya and have all experienced a positive impact in their family life. Everyone is feeling more connected to the world and with each other. The family is getting along much better than they have in the past. Jothi works in the field of Information Technology.

This hands-on session will cover basic fire starting and building skills, from primitive to modern. Winter offers us an opportunity to practice some of the challenges and advantages of finding good tinder and firewood, during a season when fires elemental gifts are most needed. All participants will have the opportunity to practice firemaking from friction (bow drill, pump drill, hand drill), flint and steel, iron striker rods) and igniting their own tinder bundles.

Frank Levey – Blue Turtle Nature Camp

Frank Levey has been a student/teacher of nature awareness and wilderness living skills since a child. He has a wellness practice as a breathworker and guide. Framk and his wife, Larissa, also run Blue Turtle Nature Camp from their home in Ann Arbor. Frank will also be teaching a session on Water Gathering and Purification.

Using the guidance of “Bread Alone” by Daniel Leader, Lise Anderson will show you the steps to make a great pain au levain as well as how to feed and maintain a chef (sourdough starter) in your fridge.

Lise spends her work days with researchers at UM as an instructional designer, but off-hours she serves on the board of The Agrarian Adventure (school gardening), knits, writes, raises her boys, and makes bread. Every Sunday for five years she has shaped loaves from the “Tassajara Bread Book” and then, two years ago she began exploring naturally yeasted dough. Like some practice yoga, Lise makes bread as much for the ritual or meditation as for the crumb.